The Kennedy Plaza repaving project is underway and set to run through Thanksgiving. As a result of the project, all buses are moved out of the busways and relocated to various areas around the plaza area. If you regularly travel by bus or need to make a transfer in the Plaza, check the graphic to see where your bus is …

Barring some other crazy unforeseen circumstance, RIPTA’s Newport-Providence “water taxi” service is a go for tomorrow. The service will feature 5 roundtrips per day between Providence Piers (180 Allens Avenue) and Perrotti Park in Newport. The 50 passenger water taxi is smaller than the ferry used for last year’s service. The water taxi does not have a snack bar or …

Sigh. Where to start, let’s start at the top. “No Parking Here to Corner” First, why do we need this sign on every corner? Most other municipalities make this plain with yellow markings on the curb. Second, RI General Law Ã‚Â§ 31-21-4 states that there is no parking or stopping “[w]ithin twenty feet of a crosswalk at an intersection.” The …

Photo by vistavision from Flickr A newish group called the New Public Transit Alliance has been lobbying to get more equitable and reliable funding for RIPTA. Yesterday, the House voted to approve a 2¢ hike to the state gas tax to help RIPTA close it’s budget gap. RIPTA’s current deficit is oscillating due to several factors, but currently stands around …

Seems early, it’s not even Memorial Day yet, but the state has issued an air quality alert for tomorrow, which means RIPTA buses will be free to encourage people to leave their cars at home. View it as a good opportunity to get to know the bus system. And tell your boss the last bus leaves at 3pm, she’ll never …

Oh no! No money! We need money! Service cuts! Dire! The Providence Journal reports tomorrow today… But basically, you can just read what I wrote in January. PS: In January, RIPTA’s deficit was $1.3 million, now it is $9 million, before January it was $13 million. Wha?

ProJo reports that we will have ferry service between Newport and Providence this summer after-all. Dubbed the Providence-Newport Water Taxi on RIPTA’s website the service will use a smaller vessel than we’ve become used to. The 46-passenger catamaran will be operated by Ocean State Shipbuilding Inc. of Brooklyn, Connecticut (why Ocean State Shipbuilding is based in the Nutmeg State… I …

Could the Providence-Newport Ferry rise from the dead and return to service this summer? RIPTA is hoping to make it work. As the Journal reports, RIPTA has issued two RFPs. One asks ferry companies to bid for a no-subsidy service. Likely this would be fewer trips and a shorter season than we are used to. The other RFP asks ferry …

I’ve heard this was coming and ProJo reports about it. RIPTA is looking to use stimulus money to purchase hybrid gas/diesel buses. The hybrid buses cost about $200k more than the $380-400k RIPTA pays for regular diesel buses, however fuel economy, savings on maintenance, and the longer life span of the hybrid buses lead to an overall savings over the …

I was looking up a RIPTA route online today and I found the above map on the page for the Route 31 schedule. As you can see, this is an actual geographically accurate map, you can see where the stops are in the real world. Not the annoying line maps they had before: Thank Jeebus! I all the time had …

The Providence Journal reports today that RIPTA’s budget deficit has now shrunk from $12 million to $1.3 million. Well, that’s good. A combination of savings, advantageous swings in the petroleum market and extra funds from a variety of sources has wiped out most of the budget deficit that once threatened to take away 20 percent of the service on the …

Mary Ann Barbary from the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority generously answered a question I emailed her about a topic that came up several weeks ago here on the Greater City Providence… When it snows, who is responsible for shoveling the bus shelters? Here is the answer: Lamar Advertising owns and maintains THEIR bus shelters which are clearly marked with …

Board Votes to Hold Public Hearings on Proposed Fare Increases RIPTA’s board of directors voted at it’s April 7th meeting to hold public hearings on proposed fares increases. Sharp hikes in the cost of fuel are behind the fare increase proposal. “Unfortunately, we have to seek fare increases to compensate for some of the steep increases in fuel costs. Fuel …